Maximising Creativity through Company Culture from the comfort of your own home

How we’ve turned full-time remote working into team collaboration heaven

by Camealia Xavier-Chihota

We’ve embraced the fully remote work model here at The Digital Voice™ with all of our 30+ team members working from the comfort of their own homes, and we couldn't be happier with the setup. If you're contemplating the idea of remote work and are uncertain about whether it's the right fit for you, we'd like to introduce you to our comprehensive TDV remote working toolkit, designed to ensure your remote work experience is nothing short of fabulous!

Having never had an office, we’d like to think that as a business we’ve fine tuned the art of remote working – something we’ve done since long before 2020 – and the proof is in the pudding. In a recent anonymous survey done by Agency Benchmarker, 85% of The Digital Voice™ team reported that they believe they can collaborate just as well remotely as they can in person and 100% of the team would actively recommend and promote working for the company.

Company Culture is the key

We believe the key to successful remote work boils down to having a solid company culture. There's this notion that having the entire team physically present makes them stronger. But working here tells a different story: instead of dragging people back to the office three or four times a week, making them endure longer commutes, we've opted for completely cutting the commute time and having shorter days where we can focus our time on productivity. This gives our team the freedom to concentrate their efforts throughout the day, cultivating a productive work-life balance and freeing up a little of our precious time. We've got the receipts to back it up too! By enhancing our company culture as a remote-working unit, we've cranked up our collaboration game and consistently delivered top-notch results to our clients, all without sharing the same physical space.

The Perks of Remote Working

For those that are used to the usual everyday of going into the office, it can be hard to see the perks of working remotely, away from office socialising. But really once you go remote in the right way, you won’t want to go back. Here’s some of our top perks that come with working from home: 

Flexibility: At The Digital Voice™, one of the biggest perks for us is the flexibility remote working provides. Being able to work remotely means we can tailor the week to our home circumstances. If we need to leave work early, we can start work early. If we power through lunch and need to finish work early, we can do that. It’s especially handy for those that have childcare responsibilities, allowing parents like myself to effectively balance our professional commitments while still being present for the school run and quality time with the kids.

Work-Life Balance (or Life-Work Balance, in our case!): Remote working eliminates the need for the extra time spent commuting to and from the office. When our workday wraps up at 4, we enjoy the liberty of having the rest of the afternoon and evening to ourselves. We also work a 4.5 day week, meaning we get that Friday feeling a bit earlier, as we shut up shop at 1pm, ready for the weekend and a full 2.5 days of resting and relaxing!

Independent working: While we make sure we have plenty of opportunities for socialising and collaboration through calls and various communication channels, we also have the option to work autonomously, free from the typical distractions found in a conventional office environment. Whether your optimal work setup involves listening to music, tuning into your favourite podcast, or working in serene silence, the choice is yours, without impacting your colleagues. We believe people work best where they’re most comfortable – it’s the perfect recipe for productivity.

Worldwide talent: In traditional office-based setups, proximity guides hiring decisions more often than not, but the best person for the job isn’t always going to be within commuting distance of an office, so why limit your hiring pool? At The Digital Voice™, we have the freedom to grow our talented team members solely based on their skills and expertise, regardless of where they are in the world, and it’s resulted in us going global!

The Toolbox 

Forming these strong, trusted relationships and collaborations are all about utilising the right tools to do so. Working remotely, you need to find good lines of communication to keep you connected as a team even though you’re not physically in an office together. Here’s a few of our must-haves for remote working:

Slack: We absolutely love Slack. It’s a platform that we use for video, audio and written messaging throughout the day in order to keep connected. The Huddle feature is a great way to have a quick chat about a work task, or a ‘water cooler’ conversation moment. We've also set up different channels for talking and team collaboration, such as "tdvchefs," "tdvgoodreads," and our personal favourite, "love it own it improve it," where we shout out the excellent work of our team members throughout the day. These little micro-communities on Slack promote a sense of togetherness and help us form strong bonds from across the miles, sharing in each other’s joy and staying just as social as we would be in any office setting.

Remo: Another great tool we use is Remo, a virtual events platform. We use Remo weekly as a team to get together and also use it for our clients when they want to host virtual industry events. This was an especially great tool for keeping the events industry alive in the pandemic, but its uses are endless!

Every Friday, our team enters our virtual office on Remo for what we call “Boost Your Power Hour” where we all gather to focus on training and developing our skills together. 

Skillshare: During our Power Hour sessions, we leverage Skillshare and other virtual learning tools to enhance our work practices and upskill our team members, empowering them to reach their growth potential. Our Agency Benchmarker survey data bears witness to this: 100% of TDV team members feel inspired and encouraged to further their skills and extend their capabilities while working remotely. 

Networks, Coaching & Mentorship: We are strong advocates of leveraging networks and mentorship opportunities to support our journey. In remote work, connecting with industry peers and making the most of these connections is pivotal. Our in-house business coach Nicki Coe regularly conducts one-on-one sessions with the team and organises group team-building activities, creating a welcoming and open space for all to develop personally and professionally under her guidance.

Our team also actively participates in mentoring programs like Bloom and lollipop, both UK-based nonprofit networks within our industry. These programs are dedicated to uniting women in the field, offering support and expertise sharing. lollipop Mentoring focuses on empowering Black women and young, diverse talent in the advertising and marketing industry, while Bloom focuses on ensuring equal opportunities for women in the communications field.

Google Suite: An essential pillar of our remote working process is ensuring alignment through a shared workspace. Google Suite is indispensable to us – we can't imagine life without it.

As a team, we rely on Google Sheets to track our tasks and responsibilities while staying interconnected. We use Google Documents and Drive for collaborative writing and sharing among the team and clients. This facilitates seamless online collaboration, enabling us to add comments, make edits, and work on documents simultaneously.

Our regular Google Meets sessions, involving both the team and clients, are a cornerstone of our connectedness. These meetings are not just for task updates; they also provide a platform for catch-ups and chitchat when needed. Despite our remote setup, we remain a closely-knit team thanks to meetings like these!

We also have to give some honourable mentions to tools like Copysmith, Canva, Trello, Milanote, and Riverside, each playing a unique role in enhancing our collaborative and creative workspace and further streamlining our remote work experience!

With this toolkit, we’re hoping our ultimate TDV guide to remote work has given you the confidence you need to take the leap and ditch the typical daily grind of working in-office – we truly believe the model works, and works better than any weekly slog in the office. If you're interested in learning more about The Digital Voice™ and our company culture, don't hesitate to explore our culture page.

Camealia is the Marketing & Social Media Director for The Digital Voice and works with clients across all areas of the business. Prior to joining The Digital Voice, Camealia earned her stripes working her way up as a Fashion Buyer before diversifying her skill set in various roles within Ecommerce, Sales, Events, Marketing and Management. She brings with her a wealth of experience, a creative eye and a passionate, solution-oriented approach.